So currently, this is what I've been using as my set up and this must be wrong. Am I missing a piece? I thought the umbrella was supposed to adjust up or down along with the flash. As it is in the below pictures, the flash can be adjusted up or down but the umbrella stays still. any help is appreciated. This is my first time.

FYI this is probably obvious, but the silver piece sticking out is where the umbrella is...

Actually, putting those things upside down is a really common mistake. I think that a lot of them actually come out of the package with the adapter in the wrong end, which naturally leads people to use them upside down.

So currently, this is what I've been using as my set up and this must be wrong. Am I missing a piece? I thought the umbrella was supposed to adjust up or down along with the flash. As it is in the below pictures, the flash can be adjusted up or down but the umbrella stays still. any help is appreciated. This is my first time.

FYI this is probably obvious, but the silver piece sticking out is where the umbrella is...

let me know if there is a better angle that might help out more...

Click to expand...

Don't feel bad, almost every single person who is new to off-camera lighting makes this mistake unless they know an experienced strobist who can show them how everything goes together.

Most of my shooting buddies have been doing the strobist thing for awhile and I got to play with their equipment a bit prior to getting my own. So when I finally ordered my own strobist gear from MidWest Photo I knew how everything went together properly.

But thanks for sharing that picture...it made my day :mrgreen: (not laughing at you, laughing with you).

Reminds me of the time it took 6 pages or so on POTN fo a guy to figure out his PW's wouldn't fire because it was in the hotshoe backwards. There were all kinds of f'ed up suggestions before some one (hmmmm....) told him to turn it around.